What Accountants and Auditors earn in Gallatin County, KY
The median pay for Accountants and Auditors in Gallatin County, KY is $80,640 per year, which works out to $38.77 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metropolitan area, the labor market that Gallatin County, KY belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $90,330, which is 12.0% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 10,050 people working in this occupation across the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Gallatin County, KY has roughly 8,769 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Accountants and Auditors in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $57,740 a year ($27.76 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $132,680 or more ($63.79 an hour). That is a gap of $74,940 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $64,360 at the 25th percentile and $104,050 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.3 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $38.77 an hour or $80,640 a year at the median for Gallatin County, KY. Before any deductions, that is $6,720 a month, $3,102 every two weeks and $1,551 each week. After taxes the same job pays $29.90 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Accountants and Auditors
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Accountants and Auditors this way: "Examine, analyze, and interpret accounting records to prepare financial statements, give advice, or audit and evaluate statements prepared by others. Install or advise on systems of recording costs or other financial and budgetary data."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Prepare detailed reports on audit findings"; "Report to management about asset utilization and audit results, and recommend changes in operations and financial activities"; "Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations, and management policies"; "Inspect account books and accounting systems for efficiency, effectiveness, and use of accepted accounting procedures to record transactions".
Job outlook for Accountants and Auditors
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 1,595,200 jobs in 2025 to 1,674,600 in 2035, a change of +5%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 115,300 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 7.2% of current employment each year. About 5.5% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: bachelor's degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $83,680 for this occupation; the Gallatin County, KY median of $80,640 is 3.6% below it.
How pay in Gallatin County, KY compares
Compared with the Kentucky average
A worker in this occupation in Gallatin County, KY earns $3,597 more than the Kentucky average of $77,043, a premium of 4.7%. Over a year that premium is worth $3,597 before tax and roughly $2,774 after tax. Within Kentucky, Gallatin County, KY already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Accountants and Auditors is $86,390 across the contiguous United States. At $80,640, Gallatin County, KY pays $5,750 less, which is 6.7% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Gallatin County, KY
Among the 582 occupations with published wages in Gallatin County, KY, Accountants and Auditors ranks number 131 by median pay, ahead of about 78% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Software Developers at $121,420 a year, which is $40,780 more than the median for Accountants and Auditors.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Accountants and Auditors earning the Gallatin County, KY median of $80,640, they add up to $18,454. The result is $62,186 of take-home pay a year ($5,182 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $23 goes to taxes and $77 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 22.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $64,890. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $9,190, an effective 11.4% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $5,000 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,169. FICA totals $6,169, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Kentucky
Kentucky income tax on this salary is $3,095 a year, or 3.8% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 34% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $258 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Gallatin County, KY
IRS Statistics of Income data for Gallatin County, KY show an average adjusted gross income of $64,239 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 9.0% across all filers. Filers in the $75,000 to under $100,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.5%, compared with the 11.4% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Gallatin County, KY
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Gallatin County, KY: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $62,186 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Gallatin County, KY, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,128 a month ($13,536 a year), and at $1,442 for two bedrooms. For Accountants and Auditors, a one-bedroom absorbs 21.8% of take-home pay and 16.8% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 4.3% of gross pay for Accountants and Auditors in Gallatin County, KY. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Kentucky residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,351 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $524, for $1,874 in total. Gasoline in Kentucky averages $3.18 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,470.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $20,316 a year in Gallatin County, KY. Subtract that from $62,186 of take-home pay and $41,871 remains, which is $3,489 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 51.9% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Gallatin County, KY
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Gallatin County, KY: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Gallatin County, KY, set beside the Kentucky and national medians.
Property taxes in Gallatin County, KY
Homeowners in Gallatin County, KY pay a median of $1,476 a year in real estate taxes, 4% below the Kentucky median of $1,544 and 53% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $178,200, the median tax bill is 0.83% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Accountants and Auditors median of $80,640, a tax bill of that size would equal 1.8% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Gallatin County, KY
Renters in Gallatin County, KY pay a median gross rent of $832 a month in the Census survey, 14% below the Kentucky median of $967. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,128 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $178,200, 13% below the Kentucky median of $205,600. Median household income is $63,346, in line with the Kentucky median of $63,726, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 21.4% of that income.
Commuting in Gallatin County, KY
Workers in Gallatin County, KY who travel to a workplace spend an average of 29.5 minutes each way, 23% above the Kentucky average of 24.0. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.9 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 4.5% of workers in Gallatin County, KY work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Accountants and Auditors afford to live in Gallatin County, KY?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $80,640 that ceiling is $2,016 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,128 is $888 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $21.69 an hour; the median for Accountants and Auditors is $38.77, which is 79% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $29.90 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 8.7 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,442 a month means $721 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $4,884 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $46,755.
How fast you can save
At $3,489 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 3 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 6 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Accountants and Auditors pay in Gallatin County, KY
How much do Accountants and Auditors make per hour in Gallatin County, KY?
The median is $38.77 per hour, based on $80,640 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $27.76 at the 10th percentile to $63.79 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Accountants and Auditors take home after taxes in Gallatin County, KY?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $80,640 becomes $62,186 a year. That is $5,182 a month, $2,392 every two weeks or $1,196 a week.
How much tax do Accountants and Auditors pay in Gallatin County, KY?
Total taxes are $18,454 a year, an effective rate of 22.9%: $9,190 federal income tax, $6,169 FICA and $3,095 Kentucky income tax.
Do Accountants and Auditors earn more in Gallatin County, KY than elsewhere in Kentucky?
Yes. The local median of $80,640 is +4.7% versus the Kentucky average of $77,043, a difference of $3,597 a year.
Can Accountants and Auditors afford a one-bedroom apartment in Gallatin County, KY?
A one-bedroom costs $1,128 a month against take-home pay of $5,182, which is 21.8% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $2,016 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Accountants and Auditors in Gallatin County, KY?
About $3,489 a month ($41,871 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $20,316 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Gallatin County, KY at the 30% guideline?
$21.69 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $13,536 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Accountants and Auditors is $38.77.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Kentucky rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.